Cultivated Heart

He who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

Matthew 13:23

If you had to choose the most important of all the stories Jesus told, which would you choose? You should consider the one He said was most important: “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?” Jesus seemed to indicate that the parable of the four soils was a key to understanding the rest of His parables.

Why was it so important? Because the parable of the soils (Matthew 13:1-23) has to do with what is required for the Word of God to bear fruit in the life of the one who receives it. When the Word is sown in the heart, the condition of the “soil” (the heart) makes all the difference. If the heart is hard, Satan can snatch the Word away. If the heart is troubled or enamored with the world, the Word can die before it bears fruit. But if the heart is tender and ready to receive the Word, it will spring up and bear fruit, “some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” The key to spiritual fruitfulness is a heart in which the Word of God can be sown and take root.

Spend time daily cultivating your heart so it will be ready to receive the Word.

Plato located the soul of man in the head; Christ located it in the heart.

ST. JEROME